Heel breasting method



Oct. 4, 1966 J. A. HARRINGTON ET AL 3,276,058

HEEL BREASTING METHOD Original Filed Sept. 25, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet lINVEN ORS JOHN A. M

,4 TTOFA/E V5 1966 J. A. HARRINGTON ETAL 3,276,053

HEEL BREASTING METHOD 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Sept. 25, 1962 e.ma m EWEEM WW 4e 1 H .15 ./:/C 0% P w wm Oct. 4, 1966 J. A. HARRINGTONET AL 3,276,058

HEEL BREASTING METHOD Original Filed Sept. 25. 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5United States Patent Q 3,276,058 HEEL BREASTING METHOD John A.Harrington, Grand Rapids, Robert J. Broersma, Spring Lake, David L.Runnells, In, Grand Rapids, and Clarence L. Johnson, Grand Haven, Mich.,assignors to Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation, Rockford, Mich., acorporation of Michigan Original application Sept. 25, 1962, Ser. No.226,020, now Patent No. 3,118,158, dated Jan. 21, 1964. Divided and thisapplication Oct. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 321,714

2 Claims. (Cl. 12147) This invention relates to la heel breastingapparatus, and more particularly to a breasting apparatus and method forbreasting heels under high speed production conditions to obtain animproved breasted surface on the heels.

This application is a divisional application of parent applicationSerial No. 226,020, filed September 25, 1962, which issued as Patent No.3,118,158 on January 21, 1964 entitled Heel Breasting Machine.

In shoe manufacturing, the wedge-heel type construction is formed bysecuring the heel between the shoe and the sole. Thus, the sole extendsfl at [across the heel, bends into contact with the front surface of theheel, and then extends flat to the toe. The sole is bonded by anadhesive to the heel and shoe. Wedge heel inserts must be breasted at anangle to provide optimum adhering conditions between the contoured soleand the heel, a good bond must be formed between the front angularbreasted surfiace of the heel and the sole. Even though this surface ispresently formed at .an angle, there is often considerable difficulty ineifectuating a secure, lasting bond between this angular surface and theoverlapping sole due to the large stress tending to cause the sole topull away. In many instances, a sponge rubber sole, especially, willpull away from the firont breasted heel surface. After much testing, ithas been found that this tendency to pull away is due to the presence of:a glazed surface which occurs during the conventional shearing,breasting operation.

This breasting operation is conventionally conducted on one element at atime, by manually positioning the heel stock at an angle with respect toa shear blade. The blade is reciprocated through the heel rat thepredetermined angle. As is well-known to those in the field, theseblades become dull very rapidly. The doll blades cause heating andresulting glazing of the heel material, especially rubber, duringshearing. Moreover, these knife blades require constant maintenance.They often form a production bottleneck due to the item-by-itemoperation. They also wear out rapidly, thereby requiring frequentreplacement. Further, they are dangerous to the operating workman.

It is an object of this invention to provide a completely novel andunique breasting apparatus that enables high speed breasting of la largenumber of heels at one time. Moreover, the apparatus does not requirefrequent main tenance for or replacement of cutting elements. It neitherrequires nor utilizes the conventional shear blades.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel breastingiaippanatus not only elfecting rapid production, but also substantiallyreducing danger to workmen.

It is another object of this invention to provide a breasting apparatusthat actually eflfects a superior breasting operation on the heelsurface without any resulting glaze, and in :fact, if desired, caneifect a roughened surface of a cont-rolled amount to create optimumbonding conditions between the sole and the heel for any particularmaterial.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a novel ofbreasting hee'ls, especially for wedge heel shoes, which impartssuperior bonding characteristics to the firont breasted surface of theheel, and eliminates undesirable glazing heretofore experienced.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel method anddevice for pre-setting the heel breaster. The device assures breastingof a plurality of heel doubles into exact halves, regardless ofthickness variations in the doubles with different batches.

These and several other objects of this invention will be apparent uponstudying the following specification in conjunction with the drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the front and one end of one iormof the novel bre-asting apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of the opposite endof the breiasting apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a firagment ary, enlarged perspective view of the front of thebreasting apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a view 'of the breasting apparatus taken on plane IV-IV ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional, enlarged view of the band saw bladeand its adjacent guide panel of the breasting apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of 'a typical heel-double forming thestarting stock of the novel b-reasting apparatus and method;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, elevational view of a typical wedge heel typeshoe embodying the breasted heel;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a modified form of the breasting apparatus;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the fixture gauge element of thenovel breaster-jig pre-setting device, with a plurality of heel doublesin place; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary prespective view of the breaster-jig and thesetter gauge.

Basically, the inventive heel breasting apparatus comprises a frame, aband saw adapted to operate in one general position with respect to theframe, reciprocal carriage means adapted to reciprocate to and fro pastsaid blade, and preferably powered by fluid cylinder means, andheel-double jig means on said carriage means adapted to align andsecurely hold a plurality of heel-doubles for breasting. The jig meansincludes two side elements positioned diagonally with respect to theline of carriage travel and on opposite sides of the blade.

The side elements align a plurality of heel-doubles to retain themdiagonally on a specific angle with respect to the blade. Two endelements of the jig are positioned on opposite ends of the side element.They are adjustable with respect to each other, and thus are adapted tohold a plurality of heel-doubles against longitudinal movement duringbreasting. The combination of the side elements and end elements form aparallelogram with two obtuse angles and two acute angles. The endmembers of the jig are adjustable in the direction of movement of thecarriage to accommodate varying thickness heel-doubles. The side membersare likewise adjustable toward each other diagonally with respect to thedirection of movement of the carriage, to accommodate varying lengthheeldoubles. Adjustment of the side elements may also be necessary toaccommodate ditferent thickness doubles. The side elements may includereplaceable, inner, stepped plates with steps of different widths toaccommodate varying thickness heel-doubles.

A heel guide and separation panel coplanar with the blade and adjacentthereto prevents jamming of divided heel-doubles into the blade onreverse reciprocal movement of the carriage.

The inventive method of breasting heels comprises the steps of stackinga plurality of heel-doubles, spacing each double longitudinally withrespect to the adjacent doubles to create a particular stack angle, andsawing the stack through the middle thereof and at said stack angle on aplane dissecting all of said doubles equally, to provide guide channels28 and 28'.

.a duplicate heels on each side of the blade. Each heel has an unglazed,roughened, angular breasted surface. The invention also comprises apro-setting device for the breasting jig, including a fixture gauge anda setter gauge. The fixture gauge measures the length of a diagonalstack of doubles regardless of the thickness. The setter gauge enablesadjustment of the side jig members to exactly one half of this measuredlength.

Referring now to the drawings, the novel breasting apparatus includes aband saw mechanism 12 composed of a conventional upper housing 14 inwhich a conventional rotatable idler wheel 13 for guiding the band sawis located, and lower housing 16 in which a second conventional drivewheel for the band saw blade is located. The blade 19 passes around thelower drive wheel, through the back of the housing, over the upper idlerwheel, through an exposed front portion between the housing to allowwork to be done thereby. A platform or bed 20 is mounted adjacent thefront exposed portion of the band saw blade 19. The band saw is guidedin its exposed area by conventional guides 22 and 24.

Mounted upon platform 20 by suitable means such as bolts 27 is a frame26 which in the form of the invention illustrated includes an upperlevel defined by a pair of guide tracks 30 and 30' (FIG. 2) and a lowerlevel defined by a second pair of guide tracks 28 and 28'. Each track isgenerally a U-shaped guide facing the cooperating track on the oppositeside. A plate-like carriage 36 is guided by tracks 30 and 30' inreciprocal travel. A similar lower carriage 38 is adapted to reciprocatewithin As can be seen from FIG. 3, the front U-shaped upper channel 30is foreshortened to enable access to the lower carriage 38 when in theposition illustrated in FIG. 3.

Mounted upon upper carriage plate 36 is a first jig means 50 adapted tohold a series of heel-doubles 52 (FIG. 6). By the term heel-double" ismeant the starting workpiece which will form two identical heels whenservered by the breasting machine. The saw cut is made along the phantomplane shown in FIG. 6. Jig means 50 is essentially -a parallelogram withtwo obtuse angles and two acute angles. It is formed by two sideelements 56 and 54 (i.e. in front and back, see FIG. 4), and end ele-'ments 58 and 60. The end elements are parallel with each other and atan angle with respect to the reciprocal movement of the carriage asillustrated by the arrow in FIG. 4. Central slot means 66 is provided inthe front end element 60, thereby severing front element 60 into twoportions to enable the jig means to pass the band saw blade when thecarriage is reciprocated. The rear element 58 includes a pair ofupstanding fingers 61 on opposite sides of the centerline. These projectsubstantially above element 58 to hold the heel-doubles straight andtrue during cutting; and yet enable element 58 to be relatively shortfor convenient loading and unloading of the doubles into and out of thejig. At least one of the end elements includes elongated slots 65 intowhich the con- .necting pins or bolts 64 interfit to allow adjustment of'or away from each other in a diagonal manner with respect to the saw ori.e. with respect to the direction of movement of the carriage plate 36to accommodate varying length heel-doubles. Each step cooperates withthe corresponding step on the opposite face plate to align a heel-double52 therebetween. The opposite faces are parallel. The different widthsteps of replaceable face plates accommodates varying widthheel-doubles. Therefore, longitudinally adjusting the end plate means,by diagonally adjusting the side plate means and by providing the properface plates, any size heel-double can be accommodated in the apparatus.

When a plurality of heel-doubles 52 are inserted in the jig means asshown in FIG. 4, they are held longitudinally by the end elements andare positioned and held diagonally and laterally by the side elements.In this arrangement, several heel-doubles can be cut at one time at anexact angle along the phantom plane 53 illustrated in FIG. 6. In theform of the invention illustrated, nine heeldoubles are sawed intoeighteen heels in the upper jig means, and nine additional ones aresawed in the lower jig means 80. This lower jig means is identical tothe upper jig means as mounted on its carriage plate 38. In FIG. 3, thefront element of the lower jig means is removed to show the elongatedkey slot means 82 in the carriage plate 38.

Each of the carriage plates includes a forward projection 86 adapted toshift a control valve 88 to limit the reciprocal travel of the carriage,i.e. act as a limit switch. In FIG. 2, the upper limit switch 88 isshown shifted, and the lower limit switch 88' is in its unshiftedposition. Normally, the carriages are controlled to cause one to beshifted to the right, while the other is shifted to the left. Thisallows unloading and loading of one, while the heeldoubles in the otherare being sawed. The carriage plates 36 and 38 are reciprocated by fluidcylinders 90 and 92 respectively. The cylinders are mounted on avertical support plate 94 fixedly secured to platform 20 as shown inFIG. 2. The roads 98 (FIG. 4) of the air cylinders are connected to thecarriage plates with suitable couplings 100 interlitting with a T-slotin the carriage plate. Other suitable connections can be used.

The band saw blade 19 extends through an opening 106 (FIG. 2) inplatform 20 of the apparatus. Adjacent the band saw blade coplanartherewith and extending to the rear thereof is a metallic plate or panel110. As illustrated in FIG. 5, this plate 110 is preferably secured bysuit-able screws 112 to a bar support 114, which in turn is securedbybolts 116 to frame 26 of the apparatus. Welded to this panel in athin, vertically elongated, metallic platelet or shedder blade 118 whichextends adjacen-t one side of blade 19, but is not attached to theblade. Panel 110 and platelet 1:18 protect the band saw from beingjammed by the sawed heels either during forward or return movement ofthe carriage. The end edges of this shedder are purposely tapered toprevent the cut heels from snagging it when passing.

A suitable control box 120 includes switch 122 for actuation of the bandsaw, a second switch 124 for actuation of the air source to thecylinders and valves, and an emergency stop switch 126. Box 120 ismounted upon stand 12-8 extending upwardly from the frame. A pair ofmanually operated valves or switches 1 36 and 138 may be utilized forsafety purposes, to require both hands of the worker to be placedthereon before actuation occurs.

Operation W hen manufacturing shoes, such as the wedge-heel shoes 140illustrated in FIG. 7, wherein the heel insert 142 is bonded betweensole 144 and the main body of the shoe, it is desired to form an angularbreasted front heel surface 146 which is not glazed, but rather isslightly roughened. This has been found to provide optimum bondingconditions with an adhesive placed between sole 144 and heel 142. Toform the heels 142, therefore, a plurality of the heel-doubles 52 areinserted ineach of the jig means 50 and 80 when in their retractedposition at the left of the apparatus as illustrated by jig 80 in FIG.4. Here the upper jig 50 is shown filled with nine heeldoubles andpartially shifted to the right so that a couple of the doubles have beenbreasted. Of course, face plates 7-2 are provided to suit the particularthickness heel-double, and the side elements and end elements areadjusted diagonally and longitudinally, respectively, to fit theparticular thickness and length heel-doubles involved.

Initially, the workman had depressed switch 122 to actuate the band saw,and switch 124 to supply pressurized air to the apparatus. Then bydepressing manual valves 136 and 138, the first cylinder 90 was actuatedto retract and pull upper carriage 36 and its jig means 50 to the right.The heel-doubles and jig means are pulled past the moving band saw asshown in process by carriage 36 and jig 50 in FIG. 4 to sever theheel-doubles into two equal portions. T his provides eighteen identicalheels having front breasted surfaces cut an exact angle, and without anyglazing. When the upper carriage reaches is maximum position to theright, projection 86 contacts limit switch 88 which halts rod 98 ofcylinder 90. An elongated, centrally positioned slot 111 in thecarriage, slot 66 in the front end element and a corresponding slot inthe rear element allow carriage movement past blade 19 (FIG. 4).

The second and lower jig means 80 is now ready to be loaded. Since uppercarriage 36 has moved to the right, the lower jig means is accessiblefrom above as illustrated in FIG. 4 to be loaded with heel-doubles. Whenit is loaded, manual valves 136 and- 138 are again depressed by theworkman to cause fluid cylinder 92 to retract and draw the lower jigmeans, with its contained heel-doubles, past the plade to sever theminto identical heels. An elongated slot 113 in the lower carriageenables it to move past the blade. Simultaneously, upper cylinder 90 isactuated in a reverse direction to extend and move breasted heels backto the original position at the left of the frame for unloading. Theheels move past panel 110 and platelet 118 which prevent jamming contactof the heels with band saw blade 19 when moving in this reversedirection. When the heel-doubles return to the original startingposition, they are removed by the workman and replaced by a new batch ofheel-doubles. By this time, the lower carriage has reached its extremerig-ht position. Switches 136 and 138 are then again depressedto severthe new batch of heel-doubles in jig 50, and return the lower jig 80with its breasted heels for emptying the refill.

Utilizing the novel apparatus, it has been found that instead ofbreasting heels 'one at a time as with prior art devices, a large numberof heels may be breasted simultaneously in a high production manner.Also, the resulting breasted heel is a superior product, since the frontsurface 146 is not glazed as occurred with the prior shear blade, butrather slightly roughened and textured to provide good bondingcharacteristics. This texture can moreover be accurately controlled tosuit any particular heel material, by controlling the tooth pitch on theblade.

Modification Instead of the stepped construction of side elements 54 and56 illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4, side elements 54' and 56 (FIG. 8)may be substituted. It has been found that in actual practice thethickness of any one length double may vary from batch to batch. This isbecause the doubles are initially sheared from large sheets of rubber orrelated materials which often vary in thickness from sheet to sheet.Therefore stepped elements 54 and 56 of a specific size step toaccommodate one thickness may not in-terfit well with doubles of anotherthickness. The rubber doubles must be held securely to prevent movementduring sawing since this allows fishtailing of the blade causing the cutheels to be scrap. However, the doubles cannot be squeezed too tightlytogether since the blade will jam as the cut rubber springs into thekerf. Therefore, if the thickness of the heels tends to vary, it may bemore desirable to use the planar wall side elemens 54' and 56'. Theseare diagonally adjustable toward and away from each other on carriage36. The side elements must also be mounted with one end flush againstrespective end elements so that the heels will be properly gauged. Morespecifically, side element 56' includes an inner edge 57 that islongitudinally adjustable through a bolt and slot connection 53' so thatforward end 59' can be abutted against end element 60.

The rear end 61' of side element 54 is constantly in abuttment with endelement 58. This abuttment fea ture enables the first, and thus all heeldoubles, to be oriented at the exact angle needed since the end and sideelements are oriented at the exact predetermined angle using thisabuttment to align them. The carriage is reciprocable in its tracks 28and 28 (lower carriage) just as in the first embodiment of theinvention.

The side elements cooperate with end elements 58 and 60, at least one ofwhich is longitudinally adjustable to cause them to be adjustable withrespect to each other. Upstanding fingers 63' extend upwardly from rearelement 58 for exact holding with easy loading and unloading. Thebreasting operation of this modified apparatus, with carriage 36 andslot 113 moving past the blade is the same as with the first embodiment.

Pre-setter The heel doubles must be severed into two exact halves, atthe exact angle selected, without movement of the doubles or pinching ofthe blade during breasting. Consequently, the side elements and endelements of the jig must be carefully and exactly adjusted priortooperation. This adjustment must not only accommodate the length ofeach double, but also the diagonal length of a diagonal stack of doubleswhich can vary with heel double thickness variations as well as heeldouble length variations.

A unique method and device for setting these elements of the breastingj-ig is illustrated in FIGS. 8 thnough 10. This device includes both afixture gauge (FIG. 9) and la setter gauge 152 (FIGS. 8 and 10). Thenovel pre-setting enables accurate adjustment regardless of thicknessand length changes.

The fixture gauge 150 may comprise a base 154 and a vertical supportpanel 156. Mounted to panel 156 is a platform 158 and a diagonal guide160. The guide may include a stepped or planar surface 162 which can bemounted to a bar 164. Platform 158 and guide 162 serve to retain adiagonal stack of heel doubles 52 of the type to be subsequentlybreasted. The angle of guide 162 to platform 158 is the same as theangle of breasting in the jig. This angle is usually 120 to form abreasted heel where the front breasted surface is 60 to the top heelsurface (FIG. 7). A collar 166 is secured to panel 156 and receives aleg 168 slidably movable therein perpendicularly toward and away fromguide 162 and the stack of doubles. A foot 170 on leg 168 is adapted tocontact the upper edges of the stacked doubles 52. A lock nut and bolt174 through collar 166 interfits through slot 176 in leg 168 to lock theleg in any position.

Setter gauge 152 comprises a first flat surface 180 adapted to fitagainst the wall 182 of elongated carriage slot 113, and a secondsurface 184 parallel to the first and adapted to contact the inner wallof one side jog element e.g. 56'. The second surface must be adjustablewith respect to the first. Preferably surface 180 comprises one lateralsurface of a projecting lip 188 of a block element 194 and isperpendicular toa horizontal surface adapted to rest on the top ofcarriage plate 36 when surface 180 is in contact with slot wall surface182. In its simplest form, surface 184 may comprise the flat top of thehead of a threaded stud 196 threadably connected to block element 194.

to accommodate a plurality of heel doubles of particular length andthickness, a diagonal stack is placed on platform 158 of fixture gauge156 with one end in con tact with diagonal guide 162 as in FIG. 9. Then,nut 174 is loosened to allow leg 168 to slide through collar 166 untilfoot 170 moves into contact with the corners of the other ends of theheel doubles 52. Nut 174 is then tightened to lock leg 168 and foot 170in position. The heel doubles are then removed.

The distance between the inner surface points and 202 of the guide 162and foot 170 is then measured as by inside calipers or by indicatormarks on panel 156, on a line perpendicular to the guide 162 landcolinear with leg 168. This line is perpendicular to the plane dividingthe stack into two equal parts and represents the mean distance acrossthe stack. This is the optimum distance between the side jig elements54' and 56' to breast this particular stack of doubles and is referredto herein as the mean dimension of the stack.

Next the setter gauge is adjusted by rotation of stud 196 to movesurfaces 180 and 184 a distance apart equal to one-half the distancebetween points 200 and 202, minus one-half the width of slot 113. Slot113 is on the center line of the carriage which is coplanar with sawblade 19. The Width of the slot must therefore be accounted for insetting the pre-setter. If desired, the thickness of the lip might bemade equal to one-half the width of slot 113. Then if one-half thedistance between points 200 and 202 is duplicated between surface 184land the back surface 185 of block 194, the device 152 will give thedesired setting when placed in slot 113. The setter gauge 152 is thenplaced on carriage 36 (FIG. 8) with the lip in .slot 113 and surface 180abutting slot wall 182 (FIG. 10). Side element 56 of the jig is thenmoved into contact with surface 184 and is tightened down, The oppositeside element is adjusted by turning setter 152 end for end and placingsurface 180 against wall 183 of slot 113 (FIG. 10). Both side elementsare then pre-set at exactly one-half the mean dimension of the stack ofdoubles, to cause the doubles to be breasted into identical halves.

The setter 152 is removed from the carriage and the heel doubles areloaded into the jig.- End element-is adjusted to hold the doubles firmlybut not too tightly. Thereafter, batches of like doubles can be breastedat length until a different thickness and/or length double isencountered.

It will be obvious to those in the :art that various modifications ofthe apparatus can be made within the principles of the invention astaught. Such obvious modifications are deemed part of this invention,which is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims and thereasonably equivalent structures to those defined therein.

We claim:

1. A method of breasting heels, comprising the steps of: arranging aplurality of heel doubles in a diagonal stack in a stepped fashion, witheach double being longitudinally spaced a specific distance from theadjacent doubles to create a stack having a central dividing plane at aspecific angle to each double; holding said stack securely; and movingsaid stack past an operating saw blade at said angle to cause said bladeto traverse said stack in said plane and format plurality of like heelshaving roughened angular front breasted surfaces.

2. A method of breasting heels comprising: stacking a plurality ofheel-doubles into a diagonal stack; spacing each double longitudinallyWith respect to adjacent doubles to create an acute stack angle withrespect to each double; and sawing said stack in the middle thereof andof each double at said acute angle to provide duplicate heels on eachside of said blade having angular unglazed front breasted surfaces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JORDAN FRANKLIN,Primary Examiner.

A. R. GUEST, Assistant Examiner.

1. A METHOD OF BREASTING HEELS, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: ARRANGING APLURALITY OF HEEL DOUBLES IN A DIAGONAL STACK IN A STEPPED FASHION, WITHEACH DOUBLE BEING LONGITUDINALLY SPACED A SPECIFIC DISTANCE FROM THEADJACENT DOUBLES TO CREATE A STACK HAVING A CENTRAL DIVIDING PLANE AT ASPECIFIC ANGLE TO EACH DOUBLE; HOLDING SAID STACK SECURELY; AND MOVINGSAID STACK PAST AN OPERATING SAW BLADE AT SAID ANGLE TO CAUSE SAID BLADETO TRAVERSE SAID STACK IN SAID PLANE AND FORM A PLURALITY OF LIKE HEELSHAVING ROUGHENED ANGULAR FRONT BREASTED SURFACES.